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TELEVISION TECHNOLOGY: COLOR AND UHF

Quality and Growth

The 1960s finally saw the resolution of two technical issues and problems that had plagued television since its early development: color broadcasting and ultrahigh frequency (UHF) stations. Their resolution led to an improvement in broadcast quality and growth in the number of television stations.

Old Standards

Color broadcasting was a problem left over from the debate over broadcast technical standards during World War II. CBS, which had no technical patents relating to black-and-white technology, pushed during the mid 1940s for a standard that would have called for color broadcasting, which CBS had developed, and a large number of stations on the UHF band. CBS was opposed by RCA, which had an interest in black-and-white broadcasting and the status quo in regard to the broadcasting band. Joining RCA were the manufacturers of black-and-white and very high frequency (VHF) television sets, who knew that after the war consumers would buy what was available without thought to techno-logical advance.

UHF Stifled

In 1945 the Federal Communications Commission decided that black-and-white television would be standard and that televisions would not be required to carry UHF tuners, effectively stifling that broadcasting frequency. UHF broadcasting would linger in its moribund state until the 1960s.

Government Mandate

A law was finally passed in 1962 that required television manufacturers to include a UHF tuner on every television set beginning in 1964. Still UHF remained a stagnant broadcast band, growing only because the available channels along the VHF band were beginning to become scarce by the mid 1960s. Between 1964 and 1974, 158 new stations went on the air, 111 UHF and only 47 VHF.

Color Freed

The FCC finally approved the CBS system of color broadcasting (which was not compatible with black and white and could not be received on black-and-white televisions) in 1950. In 1953 the order approving CBS color was rescinded, and RCA's system instead was approved, a ruling that recognized the state of the marketplace but also set in concrete somewhat poorer broadcasting standards. NBC, which was owned by RCA, did broadcast some programs in color, but color did not become widespread until the 1960s.

Color Becomes Common

As color television sets became more common in American households, some interesting research was undertaken on the effects on viewers. The networks found people exposed to color programming watched more television and paid more attention to commercials. The networks reacted predictably, and by fall 1965 all three had adopted complete color broadcasting as their goal. The fall 1965 schedule would be 95 percent color on NBC, 50 percent color on CBS, and 40 percent on ABC. By January 1966, 70 percent of all commercials were in color. By the end of that year there were, for the first time, more color televisions than black-and-white televisions being sold. Fifteen percent of all homes in the United States were equipped with color television in 1967; by 1976 this number had risen to 75 percent.

Evolutionary Change

These technological developments, more evolutionary than revolutionary, helped create the broadcast-television environment that lasted from the 1960s to the mid 1980s. Only with the rise of cable television did the system worked out through trial and many errors give way to a system with higher quality and more viewer choices.